


Body Talks

by ilovecharles



Series: Just Friends [2]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Kissing, Menstruation, Mild Smut, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-30 06:44:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19847707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilovecharles/pseuds/ilovecharles
Summary: A mini-fic request from @cupcakecontour on tumblr. This will be part of a series on here, each chapter with a different ending on who wins you over.





	Body Talks

His eyes followed your every move as you worked. Each bounce of your feathery hair, the rhythm of your delicate fingers, the swaying of your rounded hips with each step you took towards him. His heart pounded a panicked beat from beneath his prickled skin as you approached, bowl of hot stew perched across your palm, a freshly brewed coffee mug in the other.

He smiled sincerely as you placed the bowl on his lap, returning the genuine smile before sauntering off to serve the others as they completed their mundane chores - always thinking about others: a trait that he had always admired deeply about you, among a catalogue of many others.

Throughout all of this, he simply couldn’t remove his gaze from you as you chopped away at more vegetables; the sharp knife inching uncomfortably close to your delicate skin with each slam down against the wood of the chopping board. The anxiety was unbearable, and he silently prayed your beautiful frail fingers would remain intact before he mentally scolded himself for being so protective over a grown woman, but also for the feelings he had tried, and failed, to suppress.

After all, for the past few months, being so protective towards you became his nature - part of his makeup - and two other men at camp gave him good reason for it. With that thought his eyes sharpened into cautious slits, like the eyes of a sly snake about to catch its scurrying prey, and he drifted his gaze to the men in question. Each had their eyes planted on you, and he followed their line of sight to the curves of your body as his blood began to boil. Unlike him, other men rarely saw you for anything other than your looks. Your empathetic generosity, strong-will, many talents, beauty and charm - he took note of all of them, favouring each moment he caught a glimpse.

His mind wandered briefly as the stew on his lap cooled below him. He secretly liked to pretend you didn’t share a tent because you were close friends, or because you often hunted together and got back to camp late - you shared it because you were meant to be together in one way or another. The possibility that it could lead somewhere so beautiful gave him hope; if only briefly. Whether you even felt the same way back was still unknown. What if he confesses and it pushes you away? Into the arms of one of the others? Was it worth the risk of your friendship? Maybe you’d feel betrayed, like this whole time his aim was to get you in bed with him? No, it wasn’t worth it.

“Friend. Not lover.” He reminded himself under his breath with a solemn sigh, inaudible to those around him. The mantra brought a silent sorrow to his mind as he lifted the spoon to his mouth, pushing the bitter broth to the back of his throat to avoid its taste. Afterwards, he threw the bowl to the side of the fire, along with the other dirtied dishes, before making his way back to your shared tent - praying you’d return soon too.

Arthur

The camp was quiet around you, settled and sleeping. Only you and Arthur remained awake as you sat side by side at the campfire atop a ginger fox skin rug. You watched as your best friends rough hands tested the heat of the burning flames before bringing the grounded yarrow and ginseng up to boil above it. His other hand worked to press down upon the ingredients with his sturdy pestle, grinding it down to a fine liquid in the mortar with the help of the heat. The herbs essence began to waft through the air with each crunch down upon their bodies. Earthy tones and fresh grass filled your nose as his hands worked to create a potent health cure for you.

He would make you these tonics every time your period came to visit, bringing along the dreaded cramps too, and they always worked a charm. Or at the very least made it somewhat bearable. It wasn’t something that was plainly discussed, but having known you for the past few years, Arthur could sense when your mood shifted - even if he was just as clueless as the next man about the female anatomy. Sure, you had the women at camp to confide in, they knew the feeling just as well as yourself, but something about the comfort of this rugged man made you feel entirely secure at such an insecure time. So, maybe it was your confusing hormones, or the fact you felt so safe around him, but your mind got to wondering.

“Arthur, do you ever think about where you’d be if you hadn’t met Dutch and Hosea?” You question softly, fumbling with the edges of your dress. “Its just-I always think about what I could’ve been. A wife, mother - I don’t know. It’s silly.” Your words come out rushed and laced with embarrassment. Although, it wasn’t a word of a lie, it was something you spent hours dreaming about in silence. Your cheeks heated up, only hotter from the flames of the campfire before you.

“It’s not silly, ____.” He coos, his tone serious and comforting. “Nothin’ wrong with dreamin’ a little. I dream myself about what could’ve been with Eliza, and Issac-“ Arthur’s voice cracks suddenly at the mention of his boy’s name, and your heart hurts for him. “This families the only one I got left, so I’m gonna’ do everythin’ I can to keep it. What I shoulda’ done back then. In regards to Dutch and Hosea, well; if it weren’t for them I’d probably be hung for petty theft long ago, or at least still on the streets doin’ it.” His emotions well up suddenly inside of him, even with someone as close to him as yourself, the past is sometimes too shameful to relive, so he urges a change of subject. “This life don’t last forever, ____. When it’s over, you could have a family of your own. You’d be an excellent mother, too.”

Your eyes well up slightly, heart warmed to the core. The weight of his compliment settles in your mind and it wanders off, thinking of the possibilities. You pictures tiny feet tapping against the hardwood floor towards you, their fragile soft hands reaching out for your attention, only to be swept in a tight embrace by Arthur instead, giggling as their father tickled lightly at their sides. The image made you smile, maybe in another life. A life where Arthur loved you back would be a good start.

“Here ya’ go.” He mumbled quietly, spilling the contents into a vial before handing it to you. “For ya’-uh-lady problems.” He said, clearing his throat to shake of his embarrassment.

You giggled at his obvious discomfort whilst lifting the bottle to your lips, downing the bitter fluid in one gulp. It tasted like the rain, earthy and clean. “It’s called a menstrual cycle but thank you, Arthur.” He blushed a nod in response, dipping the brim of his wide hat to oblige you like a true gentleman. “Should help me sleep like a baby.”

He watched as you pulled the bottle from your plump lips as they landed back pursed together. His mind was not usually in the gutter, but his growing desire for you made it almost impossible for such a starved man to resist sometimes thinking a little too much about what you have under your pretty clothes. Of course, he wanted to love you, worship the ground you walked upon, but nights like this alone with you brought out a feral side of his thoughts.

Pink and pouted lips help his gaze. Long had he thought about pressing them against his own, longer had he thought about the consequences that might have on your friendship - but something about the way you smiled tonight brought a new flame to his body. The tight fabric of your silky bodice hugging against your ample breasts, pushing them up above the hem, the way the undercoats clutched at your hips to accentuate your hourglass figure. Your hair fell in tight ringlets around your face, casting curled shadows on your skin from the moonlights reflection. He wanted to tug at the locks as his lips travelled south from yours, further and further until-

“It’s late.” You muttered softly whilst gazing up at the stars, before looking down slowly to meet his beautiful blue eyes.

The moonlight caught his them, alighting an even deeper shade of blue, and you admired them like cool pools on a summers day. He caught your wandering gaze and you exchanged smiles before heading to your shared tent across camp, leaving the roaring fire lit behind you. For Arthur, nighttime was probably his favourite. He got to see you wind down, relax before bed. Often times you’d talk until one of you dozed off, usually you, and those vulnerable talks are what he would look forward to from morning onward. He liked to pretend in his own little world that you were just like any other lovers that curled up close at night and woke up beside one another in the mornings. The truth was a lot more complicated than that, but at least it was him and not Charles or Javier. He knew they could look after you just as well, but Arthur felt no shame in being a little selfish when it came to you. He wanted you all to himself.

Arthur closes the flap of the tent, letting it unravel and fall behind him, sealing off the blue moonlight and light snores from outside. All that’s left is the stuffy confines of your space, lit dimly by a single oil lamp upon the small table between your cots. His own cot creaked slightly at the weight of his body as he sat down upon it, unlacing the thick strings of his black leather boots. His thick rough fingers worked at the ties, a huff of exhaustion and irritability escaping his lips. Arthur was never exactly the pinnacle of patience.

You held back a slight chuckle at his predicament as you reached a hand around to unlace your constricting bodice. It fell to the ground after a few hard tugs and you were left in your sleeping attire, chemise underneath. Most nights you’d remove your underskirt and sleep in your bloomers and chemise since the tent was shut off from your other camp-mates, but what with your period you decide to keep it on as a precaution to protect your cots linen. Arthur’s eyes wandered up from his boots to glimpse at the outline of your breasts from your underclothes, a slight discolouration from under the fabric pinpointed your nipples - not long after he scolded himself for his perversion, looking back down in guilt.

He’d seen you undress your bodice hundreds of times before him, it wasn’t uncommon for him to even help you out. The last few months he’d struggled to even look at the few inches of skin that appeared each time your dress hitched as you bent. The slightest attention from you sent his mind racing uncontrollably, so he lets out a relieved breath quietly that you hadn’t asked for his assistance tonight.

You look back and notice his fingers still struggling against the lacy loops, chuckling under your breath before resting upon your knees before him to help. A sharp cramp resonates from your lower body at the movement of your hips and you wince. “Y-you really don’t have to.” He insists, but lifts his hands from his boots regardless. You smile and effortlessly pull the boots away from his feet, tucking them gently under his cot side by side until the morning. His eyes follow your movements, hyper-aware of your vulnerable position before him and a straining begins to form between his legs involuntarily. Seeing you here, like this, on your knees for him, was just what he’d dreamt of - even if it was just to help him untie his boots. His hips shuffle to camouflage his excitement, bated breaths leaving his chest. You raise a questioning eyebrow at his strange behaviour, quickly travelling to his crotch in your eye-line: a large tent hitched beneath the dark pattern of his jeans.

As soon as you became aware, your thoughts faded out and a thudding pounded from beneath your ribs coupled with the crumbling currents of the river flowing down to your own core in excitement. The man you’d lusted over for months past was here, before you, heated and frazzled at your touch. You’d…did that? That was because of you?

He moves fast to lift his hat over his bulge, clutching the brim in place with a guilty red look. “Shit. I’m sorry.” He explains quickly. “It’s just - you’re on your knees…and it’s been a while since - and you, you’re beau-“ You cut him off unexpectedly, bringing a fragile finger up to his soft lips, hushing him calmly.

“Arthur, be quiet.” You whisper, a pool of unbearable heat forming beneath your bloomers. You push the desire deep down. You’d wanted this for months, for this brooding cowboy you’d called your closest friend to finally make a move on you, intentional or otherwise. It was inevitable, the lingering touches and secret glances made that clear - but you wanted it to be perfect. Curled up with cramps and a shattering headache wasn’t exactly what you’d had in mind. “I really want to Arthur. Sweet Jesus, I really want to.” His eyes practically light up at your confession, corners of his mouth curling upwards slightly. “It’s what I dream about - really it is - but not with this happenin’.” You gesture to your pelvis. His mood seems to dampen slightly, more in disappointment at the situation rather than yourself, but still clutches onto your words in hope for when the time is right.

“I-I don’t mind.” He rushes, quickly blushing over his obvious excitement.

“Sweet Arthur, I know you don’t, but I do. I want it to be perfect, and right now I’m struggling to even bend over without crying like a baby.” Your hips push up from your thighs, your face now par with his, hands resting against the curved skin of his squared jaw. You daintily pulled him closer as your eyelids flickered closed. Soon your lips enveloped his and he shifted in your arms in attempt to become reacquainted with female attention. Finally, he relaxed and let loose, his lips brushing sweetly time with yours as his tongue delved out to taste you. You savoured the musky but faint taste of beef and cigars of his breath, inviting it if anything.

Your body manoeuvred itself upwards, lips still intact even as you stood. His hands came up to grip firmly at you hips, pulling you slightly downward onto his lap. You obliged his invitation, legs resting upon his as he held you upright, your fingers pulling lightly on each other’s hair to deepen the delicious kiss.

Arthur pulled away breathlessly, one large palm coming to the small of your back to pull you closer to his body, the other caressing the side of your neck with soft strokes on your skin. “I swear, I didn’t know you felt the same way, sweetheart.” He whispers against your lips, voice hungry but calm. You plant another lingering kiss in response, assuring him of your hidden feelings. He hums in approval, mumbling something under his breath about how sweet you taste. “No harm in doin’ this all night instead.” He grins against our lips as you both sigh contently in each other’s embrace.

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my tumblr @i-love-charles!


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